Herbivore Botanicals – Interview

Herbivore Botanicals has easily been one of my favorite beauty brands for a while now – I’m sure a lot of you like me already know about Herbivore and love it as much as I do!
When I first started using Herbivore years ago I knew little to nothing about them, I just knew I loved the products I had bought from them and every time I got something new, I loved it just as much or more than the last! I didn’t realized until using their products more and then properly looking into the company that it was an all-natural beauty brand. Herbivore doesn’t use any synthetic ingredients, parabens, sodium laurel sulfate, phthalates, chemicals, fillers, mineral oils, petroleum or do any animal testing. Of course not all the products I use and love are natural and unfortunately not all of them state that they do not test on animals, I do like being able to have options when it comes to the beauty products I use. To be honest I only really truly started learning about green beauty about a year ago, when I was in makeup school years ago this was never something brought up. It wasn’t until I had clients that required green beauty products that I really started looking into it and learning more about it. Also I feel like there are a lot more green beauty products out there now than ever before and places like The Detox Market are great. I’ve also been fortunate enough to take master classes and meet the people behind many different green beauty brands and hear their stories. That’s defiantly one of the highlights of my job! So on that note, I was so happy to chat with the Herbivore team in Seattle and learn more about this amazing all natural beauty line.

Check out our little Q&A below!

When was Herbivore started and can you give a brief history of the company?

Herbivore was founded in 2011 by husband and wife duo, Alex Kummerow and Julia Wills, when Alex gifted Julia with a soap-making kit. Julia’s passion for natural beauty, her studies at the natural medicine college Bastyr University, and her upbringing with an aesthetician for a mother made this a recipe for success. As she started playing around in the kitchen, mostly to try and create a natural, healing soap that would help with Alex’s psoriasis he was dealing with at the time, it soon became clear that she was a natural at making small-batch, skincare products. From the kitchen to the farmer’s market and then on to Esty, Julia’s soaps began to fly off the shelves and she soon began to get more orders than two hands could handle. Alex saw the opportunity here to join forces with Julia full-time and see what would happen if both of them really gave it their all with this little brand that was taking off and, well, the rest is history!

What have been some of the most exciting milestones you’ve experience with Herbivore?

When Sephora reached out to stock Herbivore, that was a pretty massive milestone for a relatively small, all-natural company to be approached by one of the biggest names in beauty. It was really that moment where all the hard work, the persistence, really sticking to doing what we love and trusting the outcome really paid off.

What are 5 of your favorite products from your brand and why?

Choosing favorites from our brand is like asking which child is our favorite!! However we do have some newly launched products that we’re excited about. Our Pink Cloud Rosewater Moisture Creme finally launched after months and months of formulating the perfect, all-natural moisturizer that absorbs easily and doesn’t leave a greasy finish like some other natural moisturizers do. We really wanted to perfect this and it’s been so well-received that we feel really happy with this. We’re always looking for ways to offer products that people love but may not be offered or available from a natural standpoint, like our Rose Quartz Body Oil. It’s a beautiful, sparkling Body Oil that is completely natural – it’s sparkle / glitter comes from a natural occurring mineral called Mica, which shimmers in the sunlight.
While all of our facial oils are uniquely special – our Lapis Facial Oil has been a favorite for years now as it helps heal so many different skin ailments, from blemishes to eczema to redness caused by over-dried skin. And of course, its rich, royal blue, which this oil gets from a naturally occurring compound called Azulene, makes it really feel quite exotic and magical.

Are there any other fun facts you would like us to know?

Julia’s dad makes all the soaps! He loves the task of making Herbivore soaps and has put himself up to the challenge this year to make a hundred thousand bars of soap all by himself!! So when you buy one our soaps, it literally comes straight from her dads hands to your home.

I hope you all liked this Q&A, I thought I’d share 5 of my personal favorite Herbivore products – I could have listed a lot more but I thought I’d better try to keep it to 5 : )

Coco Rose Body Polish, it smells amazing and leaves my skin super soft. This is a great product to exfoliate with before getting a spray tan.Coconut Milk Bath Soak, I just love putting this in my bath, I love anything that has coconut in it.DETOX and CALM Soaking Bath Salts, these were two of the first products I got from Herbivore and they are still my favorite – I’ve gone through many bottles of these.After Sun Soothing Aloe Mist, this really is perfect for after being in the sun. It’s super cooling on my skin and if I’m ever going somewhere where I’ll be sitting out in the sun I always bring it with me.Rose Hibiscus Hydrating Face Mist, this is a great product to keep in your bag and spray in on your face throughout the day. It’s especially great in the warm summer months.